


SandMan

by Might_suck_but_thats_ok



Series: Holding Love In My Arms [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blind Date, Fluff and Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lance (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, M/M, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, amputee lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 13:44:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11579256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Might_suck_but_thats_ok/pseuds/Might_suck_but_thats_ok
Summary: Shiro goes on a blind date with Lance. These are just a bunch of one shots of Shiro and Lance dating and dealing with society.





	SandMan

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is good guys? I hate the beach and every summer we go there so this is me feeling angsty and having my fears portrayed on Lance... Plus, there is only one other amputee Lance fic that I have found so far, and I don't think there is a fic with Lance being attacked by a shark while at the beach with his family. I've had to do a lot of research on this, with like, support animals and amputees. Stuff to say and not to say and I've got some horrible stuff in store. But then there will be fluff! So much fluff guys!!

[SandMan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWBK_QEVx6w)

 

If I had known my younger brother had set me up for a blind date tonight, then I wouldn’t have come home. I would have driven myself over to Matt’s house and hide out until Keith had told the poor guy that I was unavailable. I was very adamant about not going. I had  _ plenty  _ of reasons why I didn’t want to go. My arm being one of them. I was scarred and incomplete. Sure, I was attractive, a lot of people have told me that; but it’s not  _ enough _ . No one wanted emotional baggage either. I mean, how many people would want to be woken up at 2 a.m because their partner was screaming and crying, unaware of their surroundings, and shouting after ghosts? A lot of people enjoy sleeping, so not very many would be willing to put up with me. It made me feel guilty, like I wasn’t supposed to make feel obligated to wake up and help me through the night. Keith said that if they were my boyfriend, then they  _ had  _ to because if they cared about me at all, then they wouldn’t mind. 

 

“You are going to go!” Keith demanded, dragging me into my room and throwing clothes at me. “I’m not going to be the only one pissed off if you stand this guy up.”

 

“Why are you making me do this?” I asked tiredly. This was the… what? 12th date my brother has set up for me since I’ve been back? 

 

“Because I hate seeing you’re lonely ass sit in your room 24/7, acting like you’re all alone and depressed.” Keith replied, turning around with his arms crossed over his chest. “Look, I know how much you hate this but I promise… if you give my friend a chance then everything will work out.” 

 

I sighed, rubbing my head with my hands before I took the clothes he handed to me. Black jeans, a white undershirt and a grey vest?

 

“Where did you tell him we would meet?” I asked, starting to strip without giving him any warning. 

 

The restaurant was called, “The Paladin’s Crown.” It was semi casual, local, and well rated. Inside, there were potted trees stationed all around the room, and Ivy hung from the ceiling. The curtains were a red sunset color, and the carpet were a normal grey. The gold could be found in the pots and the lighting around the room. The place gave off a feel of fanciness to it, but the atmosphere was welcoming, calming, and casual. Keith knew I liked this place which was why he picked it, giving me a familiar environment to be in. I had this place memorized in the palm of my hand. 

 

So that was what I am doing on this lonely Friday night. Waiting for my date to show up out the restaurant for our 6:30 dinner reservations Keith had made for the both of us. I had arrived early, nervous and anxious because I didn’t know how the date would end. It took everything in me not to order wine to calm my nerves, because I knew that once I took a sip, I would like another and another and another, until the date was ruined. I’ve done it before so it wasn’t anything new. The only thing that kept me from doing it was the information Keith had given me. It wasn’t much, but it had piqued my interest. The man’s name was Lance and that he was a friend of his. He was 22, 4 years younger than I, and he just graduated with a photography degree. Keith told me that he used to be a former surfer, and that he had a large family. That was it. There was so much to go off of it though. Most photographers were patient, confident, and passionate about their work. The fact that he had a lot of family could mean many things. Kindness, and gentleness… if he was good with kids. He was bound to be somewhat athletic since he was a surfer, unless he became a couch potato after he quite. 

 

It wasn’t much to go by, but Keith knew my type. I liked someone who was shorter than me, tan, and lanky. Someone I can relate to and someone who I can feel at ease with. 

 

When the clock reached 6:30 I was at my wits end. I was scared, hopeful, and nervous. A few minutes later I heard my name being called tentatively, and that had me looking around the room. There was a tall man, tanned, with a mop of brown hair and alluring blue eyes. I didn’t swear often, but  _ fuck. _ He was attractive as hell. He was wearing black shorts and a plain, blue short sleeved shirt. He had a jellyfish tattoo on his right arm, the sea green and teal colors bringing a stark contrast against his skin. The lower my eyes got, the hotter my face felt. He was well toned, fit, and beautiful. Beautiful was a better word to use than “attractive”. That word was to plain. But beautiful could mean anything. It was a word most people refereed Alaska to, the sunset, a painting in a museum, or even a flower. When my eyes finally got to his legs, I instantly understood why Keith wanted me to meet the man. 

 

He had a prosthetic leg. 

 

The first thing that caught my attention (besides his body), was how he looked at me. He looked me in the  _ eye. _ Not my metal arm, not the scar on my face, but my  _ eyes _ . Do you know how much that meant to me? He probably understood that I didn’t like attention being drawn to my arm or the pink scar over my nose. Being stared at as if I wasn’t normal was one of the reasons why I didn’t go out in public. 

 

Lance was a smiling mess. His grin lit up his entire face up, and I knew it was infectious because I could feel my lips doing the same. I stood up and extended my arm politely for him to shake. 

 

“You must be Lance? Keith’s friend?”  I asked, shaking his hand. 

 

The man snorted in amusement. “If you can call us that. But yeah. I’m Lance.” He said before tilting his head a little. “And you must be Mr. Shirogane?” 

 

I nodded in confirmation. “Shiro is just fine though. There’s no need for formalities on a date.” 

 

Once we were both seated, the waitress came over and asked us what we would like to drink. Lance ordered a sweet tea while I chose Dr.Pepper. 

 

“So Shiro, tell me. Are you a dog person or a cat person? Because I can already tell you, if you answer wrong then this won’t work out.” Lance said, being the first one to talk after he took a long sip of his drink. He was smirking, but there was a hint of seriousness in his tone. 

 

“I’m a cat person.” I answered smoothly and I knew I answered correctly because he let out a relieved sigh, followed quickly with a chuckle. 

 

“Good! That’s good! I don’t think this would have worked out if you didn’t like cats.” He said before explaining. “I have a cat called Gizmo. He’s my therapy pet.” 

 

“Do you have a picture of him?” I asked curiously. I always thought about getting an emotional support animal. A dog or a cat would have been fine, but I didn’t really  _ do  _ anything so having a dog would have made the pet miserable. I want a big dog, eventually, but right now, in the small apartment I shared with Keith… it was unrealistic. 

 

He rushed to pull out his phone out of his back pocket, biting his lip while doing it. I breathed out heavily. Already, he had a physical affect on me. 

He then held up the phone so I could see it, and I couldn’t help but smile. Lance was sitting on the couch, his stump visible in the photo since his fake leg wasn’t on. Gizmo was pretty. She was a fawn color with bright amber eyes. She was sitting all curled up on his leg, and I could tell from Lance’s grinning face, she must have been purring. 

 

“She’s adorable. When did you get her?” I inquired. She seemed pretty young. Plus, most people who are amputees get young animals, since training is easier when they aren’t old. 

 

“Hmm… last year, about 3 months after the accident.” He said after a moment of thought. “I wanted to use my other dog, Jake, but he’s really old and he can’t walk around that much. I needed an animal that could go out in public with me.” He replied, his finger swiping the screen until I saw another picture. It was of a golden retriever, and he did look old. I knew by how his face softened that his pet didn’t have much longer. 

 

“Wait, wait, wait… do you carry Gizmo or does she have a leash?” My eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. That would be a sight to see walking through the store. Lance, with his cat, buying groceries as if everyone did it. If being an amputee garnered him a lot of attention, that certainly would. 

 

“Yeah. She likes being walked though. She even waits by the door like a dog when it’s time for me to leave.”

 

“That’s pretty impressive.” I admitted, taking a sip of my Dr.Pepper. I was just about to change the subject when our waitress came back, smiling at us politely. 

 

“Do you two gentlemen know what you would like to eat?” She asked, looking at the both of us expectantly. 

 

“Um,” Lance began, glancing down at his menu. We hadn’t even touched the menu’s yet. 

 

“If it’s alright, I can order for you.” I offered. “I’ve been here a bit so I know what’s good and what’s not, although most of the items are pretty decent” 

 

“I- sure, that would be great.” He said with a sigh of relief. “I’m allergic to nuts though. Like, peanuts and hazel nuts not…” Lance trailed off, muttering underneath his breath. I caught bits and pieces like, “ not  _ those _ nuts though” and “not on the first date.” 

 

The waitress looked at me then, holding her notepad and pen patiently. 

 

“We’ll both have the fried steak with roasted pepper pesto with a side of bread sticks.”

 

Her pen moved quickly and when she was done, she told us the food would be done in a bit. We both nodded, and she walked away to give the chef our order. When she disappears out of sight, we sit there in awkward silence. Keith always told me that I should try to be more humorous, but  _ most  _ of the time they are poorly timed jokes and inappropriate for a  _ casual  _ conversation. Despite that, I decided to give it a shot. Because hey, so far, Keith has been right. 

 

“So… did you get in a fight with a midget and they chewed your knee off?” I said jokingly, only then realizing what I had just said. I was hoping he would laugh, but instead, Lance’s face was now blank. I couldn’t tell if he was upset, annoyed, or disappointed. Hell, I would be if someone said something like that. 

 

But  _ fuck _ ,  _ fuck _ fuck! Seriously??  _ Why  _ did I say that? I might as well stand up and walk out of the restaurant right now. Cursing Keith and his stupid advice, I debated what I should. Apologizing first and going from there seemed like a good idea to me. However, he starts to speak before I could say ‘I’m sorry’. 

 

“If a 10 foot long tiger shark is considered a midget, then yeah, that’s exactly what happened.” He deadpans, his blue eyes staring into mine unflinchingly. 

 

A second later, his face cracks and he slaps the table with his hand, making me flinch a little at the unsuspected sound. 

 

“I’m just fucking with you.” He says, wiping a tear from his face. “Oh man Pidge would be proud of how long my poker face lasted. You should have seen your face though man. You were absolutely  _ mortified. _ ” 

 

“I-I am so so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. Shit, I have such a bad humour.” I said, apologizing profusely. 

 

“It’s okay. I’ve heard worse.” He said with a chuckle. He leaned back in his chair,his smile coming back ok his face as if it had never left “Children are my favorite in those types of circumstances though. I was sitting at the park with Gizmo few weeks ago, when this little girl came up to me. She had a hello kitty band aid in her hand, and she just, stuck in on me, right above the knee, and she said, “It’s all better now”. And fuck, it  _ did  _ feel better.” 

 

Heck, even  _ my  _ heart swelled at the thought of that happening to me. I had to agree with Lance on that one. I  _ would  _ feel better if a kid did that to me. 

 

“ _ Can  _ you tell me how you lost your leg though? If you don’t mind.” I asked. He seemed pretty open about his experience, and I wouldn’t feel bad if he didn’t want to tell me. I knew he was attacked by a shark, and that would be enough… but I wanted to know the  _ details.  _ Like was he alone, was it on a good or a bad day? When and where? 

 

“It’s fine.” He said reassuringly, and then he started to tell me his story. Last year, during the summer, he was at the beach with his family. He went out on a float after a while of collecting shells, building sand castles,  and walking his little sister up and down the shoreline. After a few minutes by himself his sister, brother, and three cousins all around 7 years old, decided to swim with him. They splashed, kicked up water, and laughed with joy. Once Lance told me that he saw a long shadow in the water, my gut clenched. I wasn’t stupid, I knew it was going to happen. He said he climbed out of the float and had all the kids climb into it, just in case. He yelled a warning out before pushing the flow back towards the shore.

 

“But obviously I didn't make it,” Lance said gesturing to his leg. “I’ve had a handful of people ask me if I regretted my decision, and I don’t. Like, what type of fucked up question is that! If I did then one of them would be dead.”

 

My throat was tight as I imagined what that had done to him. The pain and the fear. Shark movies scare the heck out of me. I mean, there are other things in the water. You’re not alone, and we take that for granted. We’re not completely safe. 

 

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” I said, reaching across the table and laid my hand over his. Even though he didn’t  _ look  _ upset, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to show him that I sympathized him and that I genuinely wished he hadn’t gone through that. Lance gave me an appreciative smile before directing the conversation to something a lot lighter for a date. 

 

Lance asked me what I did for a living, and I told him I didn’t do anything, and that I was a retired veteran. My parents had been rich, and once they died all of their savings went to me and Keith. There was no point in me working, though I did have my eyes set on the nearby animal shelter. He then told me that he has been working at the public library as an assistant for the past 3 years. 

 

Our food came then, the aroma mouth watering and delicious. The waitress refilled our drinks before leaving the table. I watched as Lance grabbed one of the bread sticks and took a bite out of it. He moaned softly, closing his eyes briefly as he chewed. 

 

“ _ This _ , is so fucking good!” Lance said, waving the piece of bread in the air once he swallowed. I chuckled, cutting into my steak. Conversation slowed as we dug in. Thankfully, Lance wasn’t a messy eater. He didn’t eat with his mouth open or smack, which was a blessing all in itself. 

 

“Hey Shiro?” 

 

I looked up from my plate so see him grinning at me. 

 

“Would you like a bite?” Lance asked with a suggestive wiggle of his brows. His body was leaning towards me playfully. There was a piece of steak on his fork, 

 

“We have the same thing Lance.” I said amused.

 

He shrugged anyways. “Just humour me, please?”

 

With a shake of my head, I leaned forward just a tiny bit, never breaking my gaze from the ocean eyed man in front of me. He watched me the entire time, eyes flicking to my lips and to the way I licked them as I pulled away. There was a lot of sexual tension, but it was light, if that made any sense. As far as I knew, Lance had no plans of us fucking at the end of the date. I certainly wouldn’t be ready for that until we were several months into a relationship.  _ If  _ we agreed to see each other again. 

 

I knew I wanted to. Keith was right,  _ again.  _ I was done being lonely. The idea of having no one romantically, no one to support me in a way my brother  _ couldn’t  _ did make me depressed. Lance though, has made me smile more times than I did on all of my other dates  _ combined.  _

 

The entire time, I expected Lance to ask me about my arm since I had asked about his leg. Surprisingly though, he didn’t. I was curious as to how he knew that I didn’t want him to inquire as to how I had lost it because almost everyone asked me. 

 

“This food was probably the  _ best  _ I’ve had a while. Pidge, my roommate, can’t cook for shit. I can cook macaroni and cheese and make pancakes, but anything else I just ruin.” Lance said wistfully, setting his fork down on his empty plate. 

 

“If you want, I can always cook for you.” I offered. “I’m a decent cook and I do it for Keith all the time.”

 

“I’d like that. Also, in all honestly I’m surprised that you are Keith’s older brother. Keith is nothing like you.” Lance admitted. “He’s hot headed and rude and impatient. And you’re…” 

 

He trailed off, staring at me with what I would identify as fondness, which was impossible since we only just met. 

 

“You’re funny, patient, kind, and I want to know every fucking thing about you. You’re blush is adorable as fuck and you’re eyes are so expressive.” 

 

While he said those things, I just sat there in shock. Here he was, this tan, 22 year old man, saying these things on our first date. I was speechless. I wanted to say  _ something  _ but I couldn’t. I knew that if I opened up my mouth then the only thing that would come out of my mouth would be stammering and stutters. 

 

The waitress came back, saving me. She sat the bill on the table, almost as if she was expecting us to fight over who was going to pay or not. We did, but I ended up being the one to pay, although there was a lot of opposition coming from Lance. He was insistent but I was firm, saying that I was going to be the one to pay since Keith would be paying me back. At his slightly fallen face I added, “But you can pay next time.”

 

The change was immediate. The smile he gave me told me that I had made the right decision. We exchanged numbers and as he walked away, my mind was whisked away, imagining the domestic life we could have. Then, suddenly he whirled around and came walking towards me like a man on a mission. He paused for a second in front of me, cheeks dusted red before he leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the cheek. His lips were made of roses and clover, a taste of future love, hope, and faith. No words were spoken, and honestly none were needed. Everything was said in the way his eyes sparkled, in the way he saw me. He walked away with a shy smile, and once I made sure he got in his cab safely, I got into my car and drove back to my apartment.

 

It was almost 9 o’clock when I arrived at home and Keith was still up. His bedroom light was on so I walked over and nudged the door open a little. Keith was sitting up in bed with a book in his lap, while his boyfriend, Hunk, was fast asleep beside him. I didn’t walk into the room, just stood in the doorway, trying to figure out what I should say. 

 

“Thank you.” I said sincerely, giving him a warm smile. 

 


End file.
